


Fever Dreams

by cookie_full_of_arsenic



Category: Preacher (TV)
Genre: Dreams, Gen, Pre-OT3, Pre-Slash, Sharing a Bed, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:02:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,816
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26213812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cookie_full_of_arsenic/pseuds/cookie_full_of_arsenic
Summary: Instead of knocking Jesse unconscious for three days, Genesis just makes him feel sick and exhausted. Luckily, Cassidy is on hand with soup and stories. (i.e. a blatant excuse to write fluffy hurt/comfort)
Relationships: Jesse Custer & Tulip O'Hare, Proinsias Cassidy & Jesse Custer
Comments: 6
Kudos: 23





	Fever Dreams

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoy this fic in which Jesse and Cass share a bed and absolutely nothing sexy happens!

Jesse woke up feeling like hell. For a moment, he thought it was a regular old hangover. But no, he was feverish. The inside of his face felt hot. And his stomach felt weird, too. Not nauseous, more like … like his guts were heavier than usual. Or like they were shifting around slightly. That didn’t bode well – maybe he ought to take some Imodium.

He didn’t remember going to bed. He remembered being in the church, mad at God and feeling sorry for himself. He got the feeling there was something more, but it was blurry and beyond his reach. He must’ve been pretty damn drunk, though apparently sober enough to undress and put himself to bed.

“Good, you’re up,” Emily appeared in his bedroom doorway, looking harried. “How are you feeling?”

“Sick as a dog.”

“I thought so. Cassidy thought you’d just … had a little too much to drink, but I noticed you were feverish.”

“Cassidy’s around?”

“He found you passed out in the church.” Emily looked a little reluctant to admit this, like she’d wanted to be the one to find him. She was a sweet girl, but kind of a control freak. “He said you two were mates. And I sure hope so, ‘cause he seems to be moving into the church attic.”

At this point, Cassidy announced his presence in the house with a metallic clanging, followed by a string of colorful language that Jesse couldn’t quite understand due to the thick, Irish accent it was delivered in. Judging by the way Emily wrinkled her nose, it was offensive.

“What’s he doing?”

“Fixing the air conditioner. In theory. I’ve told him to keep an eye on you ‘cause I have to go pick up the kids from school, but you’ll call me if you need me, right?”

“Sure.”

He wasn’t going to call.

“You better stay in bed, mister. And stay hydrated. I left a pitcher of water on your nightstand.”

She sure had, along with a packet of Advil. God, she was an angel. Why did he want to get rid of her so badly?

“I’ll behave, I promise. Go pick up your kids.”

She left, and Jesse took two Advil to ease his sore head, along with a glass and a half of water. Then he hauled himself to the bathroom.

His skin ached. His bones ached. He had to sit on the toilet seat while he brushed his teeth because he was too dizzy to stand for more than thirty seconds. A shower was out of the question, but he discarded his boxers and his sweaty undershirt and gave himself a very perfunctory wash.

When he got back into bed – with clean teeth, fresh underwear and the painkillers in his bloodstream just beginning to make their presence felt – sleep came easily.

He had strange, vivid dreams. He dreamed of a baby’s head, changing from pale yellow to a moonish, silvery color, then changing back again. He dreamed of a song he’d never heard before – something about fishermen and a sea of dew. He dreamed of his parents fighting, though of course he’d never seen them fight – Mom was long gone by the time he was old enough to know anything.

***

A knocking sound dragged him out of that tangle of dreams, and he opened his eyes to see Cassidy hovering in his bedroom doorway, holding a bowl carefully against his chest.

“I dunno if you’re hungry, but Emily made me promise I’d get you to eat something today, and honestly she scares me, so…”

“I’ll eat it,” said Jesse, belatedly asking, “What is it?”

“Soup. Tomato bisque. Out of a can, which apparently doesn’t count as cooking in the south, but I reckon it’ll taste better than anything I could come up with.”

Jesse had no appetite, but he propped himself up against the headboard and accepted the bowl with groggy thanks.

“Emily said you’re moving into the church attic,” he said, before Cassidy could disappear.

“Just for a few days,” said Cassidy, looking anxious. “I’ll be out of your hair before you know it. And, I mean, you can kick me out right now if you want, it’s your church. Only I’ve got nowhere else to go.”

Though there were parts of last night he couldn’t remember, his time in the holding cell with Cassidy was still clear in Jesse’s mind. His new friend talked a lot and made him think a lot and feel a lot and was generally exhausting.

“It’s okay. I’ll help you find a place when I don’t feel like a goddamn zombie. But until then, you can stay for as long as you need to.”

“Because of my incredible culinary skills, right?”

“Right.”

***

Jesse ate soup, drank water and went straight back to sleep. He dreamed of a baby, and though it looked as much like Winston Churchill as any other baby, he knew it was him. Or part of him, maybe. It had feathery wings and a long, snake-like tail. When it laughed, it sounded simultaneously like the purest thing in the world, and a supervillain. It was tiny, and very, very powerful.

He woke up around 11 pm with a full bladder, still feeling atrocious. On his way back from the bathroom, his head started to feel like it was full of ginger ale. Crap, he was going to pass out. Could he make it back to bed in time and pass out somewhere comfortable?

Nope. Apparently not. He half fell, half sat on the floor, annoyingly close to the foot of his bed, and put his head on his knees. God, he was a wreck. Something was seriously wrong, and not in a normal way.

“All right Padre, I’m gonna head back over to the church. Is it okay if I take one of the blankets from … Jesus, what happened?”

“Mmm, s’fine.”

“Err, no, s’clearly not fine. Here, put your arm around me and let’s get you into bed.”

Jesse ought to have been embarrassed by being put to bed like a little kid, but he was too far gone to be embarrassed. As Cassidy tucked him in under the covers, Jesse looked up at him and said,

“You’re gonna think I’m crazy, but I feel like there’s something inside me.”

“You mean like a parasite or something? ‘Cause me brother had worms once but they didn’t make him sick like this, they just gave him an itchy arse.”

“No, not a parasite. Like … like a power, or something.” Cassidy looked skeptical and pressed the back of his hand to Jesse’s forehead. “I know it sounds insane, but-”

“We’re all a little insane, mate. D’you want me to call a doctor, or Emily, or-”

“No, don’t call anybody, just…”

Half of Jesse wanted to tell him to go away, so he could have a little space to think. The other half wanted to ask him to stay, so he wouldn’t be left alone with something that confused and scared him.

Cassidy hopped up onto the bed, and Jesse sighed in relief and frustration.

“Aren’t you worried about getting sick?”

“No, I never get sick. I get injured a lot, but never sick.”

“How come you get injured a lot?”

“Oh, I dunno. Magnet for trouble I suppose.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. There was this one time…”

They talked for a long time. Maybe an hour. Maybe more. Cassidy did most of the talking.

***

“It’s getting late,” said Cassidy. “I should go and let you get some sleep.”

“Gonna be real stuffy in the church attic with no air conditioning.”

“Ugh, I know. And us Irish, we’re not built for the heat.”

“So sleep here.”

The fact that he was inviting someone into his bed didn’t really seem to register. These were exceptional circumstances and he was exceptionally tired.

“You sure?”

“Yeah, it’ll be like a sleepover. Like when I was a kid.”

“Did you have a lot of friends sleep over?”

“No, not really. Just Tulip.”

“Your mate’s name was Tulip? Jesus, he must’ve got picked on something awful.”

“Tulip was a girl. Is a girl. A woman.”

Of course, Tulip would come up eventually. Even now, when he was trying so hard not to think of her.

“Ah, so you were a little ladies’ man, eh?”

“It wasn’t like that. Well, not until we were older.”

“First love?”

“First, last and everything in between.”

Cassidy clapped a hand to his heart. It was a melodramatic, take-the-piss gesture, but it didn’t match the look on his face.

***

When Cassidy had switched out the light and slipped into bed beside Jesse like it was the most natural thing in the world, he turned to face Jesse for a brief moment and said “You okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Wake me up if you’re not okay.”

“Sure.”

Jesse really was okay. He still felt like crap, and he still had the sense that something profoundly strange was going on inside him. But Cassidy was a weirdly comforting presence. Comforting, that is, until Jesse started thinking. Fuzzy, feverish thoughts from a fuzzy, feverish brain.

It had felt like two kids having a sleepover while Cassidy was on top of the covers, but now that their bodies were occupying the same warm, dark space, it felt different. Less like innocent nostalgia and more like he’d gone to bed with a virtual stranger of indeterminate sexual orientation. Not that he felt unsafe, or nervous. Just very … awake.

Jesse’s skin still ached, and he wondered what it would feel like if Cassidy were to reach out and touch him – just run a finger over his forearm or something. Maybe it would hurt, the way it hurt to move at the moment. Or maybe it would feel good, like scratching an itch too hard and leaving red marks on your skin. Tulip used to scratch him like that sometimes. Claw marks all over his back.

God, he wanted to be touched. Even if it made him feel worse, he wanted a pair of hands on him. He wanted a pair of pairs of hands on him. Beside him, Cassidy’s breathing slowed and Jesse knew he was sleeping. And then Jesse must have been sleeping as well, because Tulip was there.

She was dressed for bed – a white tank top and her hair all wrapped up – and she lay beside Jesse while Cassidy slept on his other side.

“You made a friend, huh?” she said.

“Looks like it.”

“I like him.”

“Yeah, you really would. Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“What the hell is happening?”

Then she reached out and cupped his face. Her soft hand felt like sandpaper, but he leaned into the touch regardless.

“All the things your daddy warned you about, Jesse. And a couple things he didn’t. But you’ll be okay. Get some sleep, now. Some real sleep.”

And then there was nothing but darkness until the morning.


End file.
